Chapter 28

The interior was similar in size to a tavern but much neater and cleaner.

Perhaps because it wasn't a large space, partitions had been set up instead of walls, and they were taller than the height of an average adult male.

It seemed designed to prevent seeing anyone coming and going.

Even though no sound could be heard, he felt that they weren't the only ones there.

After going around the partition, several seats came into view.

They seemed to be separated and arranged like temporary booths.

It appeared to be a structure where one entered by pulling aside a curtain, like a polling station.

...Why was he suddenly questioning the security of the Information Guild?

While pondering the flimsy booths, Arndt tapped him on the shoulder.

When he turned his head, the entrance to the rightmost booth was half-open.

As they entered the curtained area, suddenly, as if his ears had popped, voices poured out.

"Young Master! Wasn't it strange out there? I spoke several times, but no one responded. I don't understand why! I thought I had lost my ability to speak!"

"Don't speak so loudly all of a sudden! Besides, did you say something earlier? I didn't hear anything."

"I definitely spoke to you!"

"What?"

As they were looking at each other in bewilderment, someone spoke.

"That's because of the artifact."

"What?"

The owner of the voice was a person sitting at a small desk inside the booth.

Although he looked somewhat tired and exhausted, he didn't lose his service smile.

"The artifact, I mean. You said you couldn't hear any sound outside earlier, right? Our guild actively uses artifacts for security purposes."

"By artifact, you mean..."

He remembered the tools with special powers that appeared in the novel.

However, he recalled that to create such a thing, one had to pay a considerable price.

The employee smiled brightly and said.

"When this artifact was first implemented, the guild master said he had to donate 3 liters of blood for the request of this artifact."

"What?"

"Oh my, I've spoken too much. May I hear the reason for your visit?"

What was that just now?

He sat down on the chair awkwardly.

"I have a request. Could I know the background and current residence of these people?"

He took the paper on the desk and wrote down the names.

The clerk looked at the names carefully and said.

"Do you only need their past background and current residence?"

"All the people on this list passed through one noble family. I'm quite interested in what they did afterward, so please find out as much detail as possible."

"Understood. It's not rare information, but it will take about two days for the answers to come back. Is that alright?"

"That's fine."

"Then I'll create a request form. Will you be paying in money? It's two gold coins per person, so with four people, that would be eight gold coins."

He could feel the gaze of Arndt and Leandros, who were standing behind him, piercing the back of his head.

The amount the clerk stated dryly was, in fact, nauseatingly expensive.

One could guess just by how the price of a horse ranged from three to five silver coins.

Eight gold coins could buy how many horses?

"Must it be paid in money?"

"Jewels, land purchase certificates, other things are fine too. As long as the value is similar."

"What about trading with other information?"

"That's fine. However, since there are no specific criteria for information... we'll need to discuss the price after hearing the information."

Information was like an auction item.

If no one wanted it, it would be dirt cheap; if everyone wanted it, the price would be whatever was asked.

The information he had brought to the Information Guild might be valuable to him, but it could also be useless to others.

So the clerk was probably nonchalant about it.

Not expecting much from the information he had.

The clerk looked at him as he placed a blank sheet of paper on the request form.

He smiled.

"The eastern project, a collaboration between the royal palace and various merchant groups."

"...?"

"If they don't pull out now, they'll lose all their capital and everything will fall apart. I guarantee it."

The clerk blinked, his hand frozen.

He began with the story connected to the "eastern pit."

* * *

"What is the source of this information?"

"We're not talking about an academic thesis, so why ask about the source? How is that different from asking me to sell my assets?"

The clerk rubbed his face and sighed deeply.

The eastern project, funded by the royal palace.

To which the guild masters within the kingdom had poured money in succession.

A massive project centered around demonic beast production and hunting.

Had this project been properly structured, it might have succeeded.

But the problem was that Yurik had no intention of doing so.

Demonic beasts?

Massive profits?

From the beginning, Yurik had no need to develop the eastern pit.

The eastern pit was certainly intriguing, but why run a demonic beast business there?

There was also the Dikenter Mountains, known for being a demonic beast nest.

Of course, the east might have better accessibility.

But based on that fact alone, it seemed wrong to transform the eastern pit into a tremendous investment opportunity.

In the end, Yurik had a separate purpose, and the eastern project was all a distraction.

He didn't tell the clerk about the black mud or the gloomy voice pooled in the pit.

Instead, he focused on the "massive sinkhole that created the eastern pit."

He said that based on reports from academy scholars, the royal palace would have received information about the ground conditions in the east.

So the royal palace was probably secretly dispatching people to investigate the east.

Though they were still keeping it quiet, some within the merchant groups might have already sensed something.

He edited what Yurik had told him in his past life and added some falsehoods.

It would be good if Yurik's personal visit to the eastern wasteland was discovered.

The clerk remained silent for a moment after hearing him.

The sound of his brain spinning rapidly could almost be heard.

"...If this is true, the merchant groups will protest to the royal palace. They will all be eager to recover their investments. The compensation the royal family would have to pay would also be immense."

"And if it's false?"

"Then there would be serious consequences."

The clerk still seemed uncertain.

Well, if it were him, he wouldn't believe such a sudden claim either.

"If it's true, how much is this information worth?"

"It's more than enough to cover what you've requested. Do you know how much the domestic merchant groups have invested? If you'd like, I can confirm the exact amount after discussing with the guild headquarters..."

"No, that's not it. I have a better idea."

He added a single word to the paper where the clerk had been scribbling various things.

"Sell this information to this person."

"This name is..."

"Deduct my request fee from what he pays, subtract the guild's brokerage fee, and give me the rest. Let's consider that as payment."

"Is that all?"

"Additionally, if he's curious about the source of the information, please let me know."

The clerk seemed to wonder if this was a scale of business he could handle.

"Our guild's brokerage fee is set at 10% of the sale amount. Is that acceptable?"

"Go ahead."

It wouldn't be dignified to refuse at this point.

The clerk began writing another request form.

If things went well, that would be good.

If they didn't buy it, he would go elsewhere.

While thinking this, the clerk who had been writing the request form stopped and looked at him.

"How will you guarantee that it's not false information?"

"Guarantee?"

"This refers to the compensation you would have to pay for spreading false information. Generally, it's stipulated that you compensate 1.5 times the damage amount of the information buyer."

"Ah."

There was such a thing?

After thinking for a moment, he said.

"Is there... a slave system here?"

The surroundings became silent for a moment.

The clerk handed him a paper.

"One person might be a bit insufficient."

* * *

"It's my first time being forced into a slave contract. Young Master, I hate to say this, but are you in your right mind?"

Arndt finally began to denounce him.

This was because when the clerk said "one person is insufficient," he had offered all three of them as collateral.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not like the slave contract is finalized yet. We have about two days, so why not enjoy the feeling of being free citizens during that time?"

"Was what you said back there true? Is the east really going to end up like that?"

"Would it be fake? Would I say falsehoods there, betting on both of you?"

Look at that, so suspicious and doubtful.

He clicked his tongue, but Arndt's unfriendly gaze didn't easily return to normal.

Well, it would be scary to think about suddenly becoming a slave.

With a generous heart, he ignored Arndt and turned his head to Leandros.

"What do you think?"

"Logically speaking, I think it will sell. I'm saying this regardless of the truth of the information."

Leandros paused for a beat.

"...If he actually moves, other merchant groups will be affected. That will naturally deflate the eastern project. There's also the possibility that the royal palace will secretly search for the source of the information."

The royal palace looking for him?

Seeing Yurik again?

Goosebumps rose on his forearm.

Had his body instinctively developed a revulsion to Yurik?

"That might be something we need to prepare for."

He had planned to sell this information eventually.

But if possible, he hoped the person he had requested would buy the information.

There was no need to clear a game in hard mode when it could be cleared in easy mode.

Two days later.

They visited the tavern again to receive the information they had requested.

Leandros ordered apple juice with herbs and fish dish, and the proprietress accepted as if it were natural.

Crossing the door disguised as a wall, the same space as before appeared.

After passing through the section where no voice came out and nothing could be heard, the clerk they had seen before was sitting in the booth.

"Here's the information you requested."

"Thank you."

Information comprised of several sheets of parchment.

To think this was worth eight gold coins.

As he was flipping through the parchment, the clerk added.

"And about the additional matter you mentioned before."

"That. Did you already get a response?"

"Yes. They immediately expressed interest in purchasing the information. I wanted to discuss the payment with you."

"...Did they perhaps say they wanted to pay with something other than cash?"

That would be a bit troublesome.

When he frowned deeply, the clerk waved his hands.

"No, they properly paid in gold coins. And I'm telling you this because they were curious about the source of the information. Remember, you said before? To introduce the customer to you if they asked."

"I did."

"The brokerage fee has already been paid, and they insisted on paying the remaining balance directly face-to-face. What would you like to do?"

They were that proactive?

Surely they wouldn't try to kill him as soon as they saw him because they regretted the payment?

Feeling anxious, he turned to look at Leandros.

Standing behind him, Leandros nodded.

"That's fine."

"Then please wait at the tavern for a moment. We'll connect you from that side."

"What happens if a knife fight breaks out in the tavern?"

"The employees of the tavern operated by the Information Guild are skilled in martial arts, so don't worry."

That was even more reassuring.

They put the parchment containing the information about the former employees into their clothing and left.

The drunkards in the tavern were still intoxicated, singing or talking loudly.

Among them, conversations could be heard.

"These days, at the royal palace..."

"But from what I heard, that baron..."

"The price of horses these days..."

There was a reason why the Information Guild operated a tavern.

Since there were no remaining tables in the tavern, they had no choice but to share a table.

Fortunately, there was someone quietly drinking in the corner.

After asking for their understanding and sitting down, the proprietress came and served ale and well-roasted corn kernels that they hadn't ordered.

"You don't look like you're from around here. Have you come from far away?"

As they were picking at the corn kernels like pigeons, the person sharing their table asked.

Though their face wasn't visible because they had pulled their cloak hood down deeply, their voice was quite young.

"Ah, yes, well."

"I'm the same. What brings you to the capital?"

"Just have something to see. What about you?"

"I'm here to meet someone."

Is that so. He put a few crispy kernels into his mouth.

"You must be very close. Looking at how you came all the way here to see them."

"Well, I wouldn't say we're close."

"Then what?"

"It might sound strange if I said I came to see someone I've never met."

A stalker?

As he looked at them strangely, they emptied their glass with a low laugh.

"But I must meet them. They're a benefactor who told me about something interesting."

"Did you arrange to meet here? It seems like you've been waiting for quite some time."

He said this looking at the many empty glasses beside them.

But the person shook their head.

"That's alright. I've already met them."

"What?"

Sensing that the atmosphere was turning strange, Arndt asked back.

There was something odd about the atmosphere, could it be.

"You're not possibly the person the guild arranged for us to meet, are you?"

At his words, the table fell silent for a moment.

The anonymous guest laughed loudly and then removed their cloak.

"My, you're quite perceptive."

Bright purple eyes were curved widely.

That alone was enough to identify who they were.

Aiden Aisling.

The eldest son and powerful figure of the Aisling Merchant Group, based in the east.

The golden hand who ruled the kingdom.

He asked him.

"Let's cut to the chase. Is that story true?"